Talk about your Christmas bonuses... When Lorenzo and Frank Fertita, owners of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, wanted to thank their president, Dana White, for a job well done, they didn't buy him a stinking watch. They bought him a Ducati 999R. And not just any 999R-this one is as buff as the mixedmartial- arts fighters that compete in the UFC.
Portland, Oregon-based MotoCorsa has tricked out a number of 999Rs for well-heeled customers before, but according to shop owner Arun Sharma, this is the trickest one yet. The most obvious difference is the paintwork, designed by Michael Czysz of MotoCzysz and laid on by Kolorwerx. This depicts the UFC logo overlaid atop the chainlink fence that encircles the league's trademark Octagon ring. "
Lorenzo told us to do whatever we wanted, so we did," Sharma recalls. "At the time, the 999R was the hottest bike on the planet, with 150 horsepower, so we didn't do much to the motor. But it's got just about every other part from the Ducati Performance catalog." Included on that list are a Termignoni full race exhaust, STM slipper clutch and slave cylinder, Magura radial masters for the front brake and clutch, BST carbon-fiber wheels, BrakeTech Axis Ductile-iron rotors, AFAM #520 chain conversion kit, Evoluzione license-plate relocator, black-anodized aluminum rearsets, magnesium head and clutch covers and much, much more.
The total invoice came to nearly $60,000. Sharma accompanied the completed bike to Las Vegas, where he helped Lorenzo Fertita present it to White, who was said to be very appreciative. Good thing, too: Not only is White a former boxer himself, he manages some of the UFC's toughest fighters. Not the kind of guy you'd want to disappoint...
MC